A non-hunter’s guide to hunting

You may be wondering how regulated hunting contributes to conservation, the mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and if it’s a sustainable practice.

Let’s start with the mission of the Service: working with others to conserve, enhance, and protect fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. A key component enabling the Service to carry out their mission is conserving and enhancing habitat, managed under the National Wildlife Refuge System. The purchase of federal duck stamps, required by all waterfowl hunters, provides the funding needed to conserve new lands, enhancing opportunities for outdoor activities where people can connect with nature.

Outdoor opportunities, including regulated hunting, are among the benefits people enjoy through the work of federal and state partnerships. For many, hunting is a family activity that transcends generations. Many feel hunting not only teaches the value and importance of wildlife conservation, but teaches imperative life lessons such as patience, respect, solitude, and self-awareness. Scott Kahan, Regional Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System, for example, feels hunting is an important way to reconnect with nature and spend quality time with his two sons. He writes, “I will cherish the opportunity to get out in the woods to hunt with my sons and reconnect with those things that are truly important to me.”

Scott Kahan and his son at Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota.

So how do hunters contribute to the Service’s mission to conserve, enhance, and protect wildlife? First, biologists study and monitor the populations of wildlife species that are hunted to ensure populations are sustainable and healthy, while law enforcement officers ensure that regulations are being followed by hunters. In some areas, populations of game species can become overabundant, limiting the amount of suitable habitat available for other wildlife. In these situations, hunting contributes to the conservation, enhancement, and longevity of habitat for all wildlife through the regulated take of an overabundant species.

A meat processor participating in the Hunters Sharing the Harvest Program.

In addition to conservation benefits, hunting is a sustainable way to provide food for your family. Alternatively, if you enjoy hunting and have game meat to share, you can supply nutritious food for over 200 people by donating a single deer! Programs such as “Hunters Helping the Hungry” in New Jersey and “Hunters Sharing the Harvest” in Pennsylvania, allow hunters to donate their harvest to help feed those in need. Even if you are unsuccessful in harvesting a deer, you still had the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, spend time with family and friends, and participate in a wildlife-dependent activity!

Pennsylvania’s pheasant propagation program provides enhanced hunting opportunities for junior hunters. Photo by Hal Korber.

Are you interested in learning how to hunt? To obtain a hunting license, a prospective hunter must participate in and pass a hunter’s education course. These courses are funded by the Service through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program and are carried out by state agencies, and are designed to teach students to be safe, responsible, and conservation-minded hunters. Many programs are specifically designed for youth hunters, such as the Pennsylvania Junior Pheasant Hunt Program, where young hunters are guided by an experienced mentor throughout the hunt.

For experienced hunters who wish to expand their hunting knowledge, many states offer advanced hunting courses. For example, Vermont offers advanced hunting courses focusing on hunting Vermont black bears, white-tailed deer tracking and processing, and small game hunting with dogs.

Learn more about hunting on public lands here.

Click here to learn more about hunting on national wildlife refuges.

For links to state fish and wildlife agencies, click here.

Backyard Birding: A Rare Sighting of a Cerulean Warbler

By Lee Halasz

Lee Halasz is a native of Australia and is a former conservation professional with the Queensland State Government. He and his family now reside in western Massachusetts, and he volunteered his time with us in 2015. This spring, we feature a series of bird stories Lee wrote to celebrate #birdyear. 

Most of us have probably heard of and even seen a blue jay, and probably a bluebird, too. Perhaps some people know of indigo buntings – the males are almost entirely bright blue. But what about a cerulean warbler? The sky on a beautiful clear day is often described as cerulean blue.

Male Cerulean warbler (Credit: USFWS)

Well, it was just that sort of day in May two years, on an outing with my then three-year-old son, when I saw one.

The Right Place at the Right Time

We were doing a loop walk around the top of a local mountain. He did really well, though towards the end it was only snacking on salty carbohydrates that kept him going. As we were approaching the car, I heard a song that I instantly knew was different from the usual bird songs. It was a male cerulean warbler, singing with all his might.

Given my son was getting low on patience, I whipped out a lollipop, knowing it would give me a few minutes to enjoy the bird. Seeing it at such close quarters, and hearing it sing so loudly, really made my day (and the lollipop made my son’s!). It’s my one and only experience with a cerulean warbler.

It turns out that we were in exactly the sort of habitat that cerulean warblers like: ridge-tops and steep upper slopes, dominated by large oak trees, facing south, in large patches of forest. Sometimes finding wildlife is just about looking (or being) in the right place.

However, there is another ‘right’ place for cerulean warblers, and that is in the northern parts of South America. In fact, they spend just a few months in eastern North America, and most of their time in countries including Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. Twice a year they also spend a few weeks in migration traveling between the two areas.Unfortunately in the last half century, populations of cerulean warblers have declined by more than half. However, much can and is being done to address this decline. The Cerulean Warbler Technical Group has shown that targeted forest management in the United States can increase breeding populations, and they have published guidelines for forest managers. There is now a Cerulean Warbler Conservation Reserve in Colombia, and landowners around it are being supported to make the surrounding area desirable for the species.

The Cerulean Warbler Reserve in Colombia (Credit: Randy Dettmers/USFWS)

How You Can Help

Something very tangible anyone can do is to purchase ‘bird-friendly’ shade grown coffee (produced under canopy trees), rather than ‘conventional’ coffee grown in open fields.

Reserve coffee farm in Colombia (Credit: Katie Fallon/Virgina Tech University)

Is the average person ever likely to see a cerulean warbler? Probably not. But imagine if you were out walking, enjoying a beautiful blue sky spring day, and just happened to see one of these tiny birds?

I hope my son can see one again during his lifetime, if he wants to, when he can take in the whole experience, perhaps without a lollipop!

TGIF with Tom

My name’s Tom, and as an outreach assistant with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s communications office in the northeast, I’ll be sharing stories with you these next few months.

I’m Tom, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s new communications intern. If I’m not out fetching coffee, I’ll be sharing important or entertaining conservation stories here every Friday. Credit: USFWS

I’m a senior English major at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and besides working with the Service, I’m an editor at the student newspaper and perform with UMass’s premiere sketch comedy troupe. I’m looking forward to talking to you about conservation news and entertaining, educating nature stories.

From hiking the Berkshires to rock climbing, to mountain biking and rafting, I owe nature quite a bit. And I can’t think of a better way to pay it forward than by sharing interesting and sometimes entertaining stories, photos and videos about wildlife and the work of the Service. Watch for my regular Friday Flick or Friday Feature here on the blog.

As an English major and an editor of the Massachusetts Daily Collegian, I understand the importance of effective communication, and my time performing on stage is also a lesson in entertainment’s ability to teach and inform. By translating important stories and conservation news into something more easily digestible, these messages can land and gain traction — especially if you can mix in a few laughs.

Growing up in Massachusetts taught me the importance of conservation and sustainability, as I spent lots of time in the woods. Maybe too much time. Photo via Flickr

With such diversity of wildlife and habitats in the Northeast, and the many challenges we face in conserving those natural resources, there’ll be no lack of important and relevant messages to share.

It takes an awareness of our environment and its resources for us to make any meaningful sustainable change. So lend me your voice, and help me spread the word about conservation in the Northeast.

If you have a question, an idea for a story, or just want to say hi, shoot me an email at thomas_c_barnes@fws.gov. Follow my features here.